Suspending and selecting means for random access systems



Jan. 2, 1968 G. R. BROWN ETAL 3,361,135

SUSPENDING AND SELECTING MEANS FOR RANDOM ACCESS SYSTEMS Filed Nov. 5, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOIRS GENE .R. BROWN CARL H. WEIDENHAMMER 1968 G. R. BROWN ETAL 3,361,135

SUSPENDING AND SELECTING MEANS FOR RANDOM ACCESS SYSTEMS Filed Nov. 5, 1965 4 Sheets-$heet 2 I I FIG.3

21 I) T M 56 I My A T H Q 58 W 48 INVENTORS GENE R. BROWN CARL H. WEIDENHAMMER THEIR ATTORNEYS Jan. 2, 1968 G. R. BROWN ETAL 3,361,135

SUSPENDING AND SELECTING MEANS FOR RANDOM ACCESS SYSTEMS Filed Nov. 5, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS GENE R. BROWN CARL H. WEIDENHAMMER THEIR ATTORNEY Jan. 2, 1968 cs. R. BROWN ETAL 3,351,135

SUSPENDING AND SELECTING MEANS FOR RANDOM ACCESS SYSTEMS Filed Nov. 5, 1965 4 Sheets-$heet 4 FIGS 1411 14i2 14:3 14i4 was 1416 14m 2 .2 K

12 22 A 1480 1491 1482 14e3 1484 1485 14e6 14? un mvsm s FlG.6 GENE R. BROWN THEIR ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,361,135 SUSPENDENG AND SELECTING MEANS FOR RANDOM ACCEES SYSTEMS Gene R. Brown, Anaheim, and Carl H. Weidenhammer, Fountain Valley, Califi, assignors to The National Cash Register Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Maryland Filed Nov. 5, 1965, Ser. No. 506,469 2 Claims. (Cl. 12916.1)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Random access strip storage apparatus from which any selected strip can be randomly released in response to the operation of selection rods cooperating with gating rods provided with specially chosen damping means which position the strips in a manner which will facilitate operation of the selection rods and also prevent damage to the strips from the selection rods as well as from the gating rods, while maintaining the speed of system operation.

This invention relates generally to random-access storage systems and, more particularly, to improved means for suspending and selectively dropping thin flexible strips on which information is recorded.

A random-access storage system of the prior art is disclosed in a copending US. patent application, Ser. No. 12,032, filed on Mar. 1, 1960, inventor Eugene H. Irasek, and assigned to the same assignee as this application. In that system information is magnetically recorded on flexible strips coated with magnetic material. The strips are provided with coded tabs and a pair of side notches formed at the upper end thereof and are disposed to depend by their tabs and side notches in a stacked group from a plurality of selector rods and a pair of suspender or gating rods which are disposed at the top of a strip storage magazine. One strip at a time can be selectively released from the lower end of the magazine by setting first the selector rods, which cooperate with the coded tabs, to select the desired strip. Then the gating rods, which engage the side notches, are swung outwardly from the stack, disengaging the side notches, and only the selected strip freely drops out of the lower end of the magazine while the selector rods retain the remaining strips. The selected strip is guided by a V-shaped chamber towards a rotating capstan. As the leading edge of the selected strip approaches the capstan, a suction produced through perforations in the capstan, draws the strip to the capstan whereby the strip is accelerated and passed by the capstan through a transducer region having reading and writing transducer means. The capstan also imparts sufiicient momentum to the strip to cause the strip, under the action of centrifugal force, to follow an upward path through an appropriate guideway back to the magazine. The guideway guides the strip up over the magazine and down into a stopped position within a magazine loading means which, in turn, places the strip back onto the selector and gating rods. A uniform stream of air is blown down through all the strips within the magazine to insure that the depending strips are maintained in spaced-apart relationship, thereby assisting a selected strip to drop out of the bottom of the magazine.

The magazine is able to store, for example, two hundred and fifty-six strips each of which is 14 inches long, 3 inches wide, and .006 of an inch thick. Since any desired strip may be selectively released from the magazine, dropped, accelerated to an operating speed, operated on, returned to a stopped position, and finally loaded back into the magazine in less than one second,

"ice

rapid random access is available to any one of the information storage strips. In addition, since the operations of dropping, operating on, returning and reloading each strip can be considered independent of each other, at least four strips can be moving about in the system at one time, which means that each second the system selects and drops about four strips. Since the coded tabs are more fragile than the side notches, the relative position of the selector rods with respect to the gating rods is adjusted so that the strips rest on the gating rods, i.e., a clearance is provided between the selector rods and the coded tabs to ensure that the selector rods move freely when selecting a strip. Then when the gating rods are swung outwardly from the side notches of the strips, only the selected strip drops out of the bottom of the magazine, and the other strips are retained within the magazine by the selector rods. When the gating rods swing back, i.e., nest into the side notches, the strips are lifted off the selector rods to provide the necessary clearance so that the next strip can be selected. As mentioned before, if as many as four different strips can be selected and dropped each second, this lifting operation of the strips off the selector rods is performed four times each second. Even though the side notches are more rigid than the tabs, eventually, the top edges of the side notches become damaged by the repeated impact of the gating rods thereagainst. When the side notches on a strip become damaged, the gating rods can no longer support the strip, and a failure occurs in the system. In addition, suitable stops are provided in the system to stop the rapidly moving gating rods. This impact between the stops and the rods eventually destroys the clearance provided between the coded tabs and selector rods.

An object of this invention is to prolong the life expectancy of a thin flexible strip in a random access system by providing means that inhibits damage to the side notches by the gating rods.

Another object of this invention is to decrease maintenance time required for maintaining the relative position between the selector and gating rods.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for performing the two above objects without sacrificing the rapidity with which the random access system is able to select and drop strips.

Briefly, the above objects are achieved in this present invention by providing a means which slows up the rapid motion of the gating rods as they return to their nested position within the side notches forms-don the strips. More specifically, this means includes a cylinder and a piston which is disposed within and moves relative to the cylinder. A connecting rod that is coupled to the piston and extending out of one end of the cylinder, is coupled to the gating rods in such a manner that relative motion is produced between the piston and the cylinder when the gating rods swing into and out of the side notches. The other end of the cylinder is closed with a member having a small orifice. Therefore, as the piston moves relative to the cylinder, the orifice meters air in or out of the compartment formed between the piston and the closed end of the cylinder. Thus, the speed of the gating rods is substantially reduced by the air pressure within the cylinder at the time when the rods contact the upper edges of the side notches.

These and other objects and advantages will hereinafter he made apparent or will become apparent upon consideration of the appended claims and from the'following description of a typical embodiment of the invention that is illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial View of the random-access storage system;

FIG. 2 is a pictorial view of a typical flat, flexible information storage strip showing a strip in a flexed position;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial elevation depicting the solenoid actuator means for the selector and gating rods and showing the proximate structure in partial section;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation depicting the driven end of the selector and gating rods and the solenoids for actuating the rods;

FIG. 5 is a section taken through the selector and gating rods showing the stack of strips being supported by the gating rods; and

FIG. 6 is a section taken through the selector and gating rods showing the gating rods swung outwardly and the stack of strips being restrained from falling by the selector rods with the exception of the selected strip.

Referring to FIG. 1, the various mechanical components of the random access storage system are shown assembled on an upright back plate 11. The upright plate 11 is suitably mounted on a frame 13, partially shown. The frame 13 is part of an enclosed console (not shown) that may also enclose suitable electronic control circuits for the system. The electronic control circuits provide the signals to actuate the various mechanical components of the system. The signals are fed through suitable wiring that is disposed on the back side of the plate 11 and substantially hidden from view.

As disclosed in the above-mentioned Irasek application, Ser. No. 12,032, random-access systems of the type described, provide for storing information on strips 12 in the form of magnetic recordings. A typical strip is shown in FIG. 2. The strips 12 are flat, flexible and relatively long in relation to their width and are made of magnetic oxide coated on a flexible polyester base such as polyethylene terephthalate. The strips 12 are more fully described in US. Patent No. 3,184,724. The strips 12 are provided with coded tabs 14 and side notches 15, formed at the upper end. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the strips 12 are disposed to depend lengthwise in a uniform stack from a suspender means 16 that is fixed to the upright plate 11. The suspender means 16 includes eight horizontally disposed selector rods 17 and two suspender or gating rods 20 which engage the coded tabs 14- and two side notches 15, respectively. A strip is selected by first setting the selector rods and then released by moving the gating rods outwardly from the stack of strips by suitable solenoid actuator means 18 (FIG. 1) in a manner that will be more fully described hereinafter. In order to ensure that each strip will fall free of the suspender means 16 when selected, the strips 12 are maintained in spaced-apart relationship by a stream of air passing through the plate 11 and directed by a suitable air duct 21. The stream of air is directed down through the strips '12. The strips while on the suspender means 16 are enclosed within a magazine 22 whose bottom communicates with a V-shaped chamber 23.

After a strip is selected and released from the magazine, the selected strip drops into the chamber 23. The chamber 23 has converging walls 28 and 29 which guide the lower edge of the strip towards the periphery of a rapidly rotating capstan 27. When the leading edge of the strip passes through the narrow opening at the bottom of the V-shaped chamber 23, the strip is attracted to the rotating capstan 27 by a suction drawn through suitable perforations (not shown) formed on the capstan. The rotating capstan carries the strip past a transducer means 33 that has read and write magnetic heads located at the upper end thereof adjacent the capstan. The write and read signals are coupled to and from the transducer means 33 through a suitable wire cable 34. After the strip on the capstan passes the transducer means 33 one or more times, a gate means (located in the area of arrow 35) is actuated, and the strip, due to centrifugal force, leaves the capstan to enter a vertical guideway 38. The strip travels upward within the vertical guideway 38 and enters an arc-guideway 39. Within the arc-guideway 39 the strip interrupts a light beam shining on a photocell 41 and a signal is produced by the electronic control circuits. The signal indicates that a strip is returning to the magazine 22, and a loading means 42, which loads strips into the magazine, is prepared to receive the returning strip. After a predetermined time to ensure that the returning strip is within the loading means, the loading means 42 is again actuated by another signal generated by the electronic control circuits and the strip therein is reloaded into the magazine 22.

With the foregoing principal components of the apparatus and their functions and relationships to each other being generally disclosed, the more detailed description of the aforesaid solenoid actuator means 18 for actuating the selector rods 1'7 and gating rods 20 will now be given. Referring to FIG. 5, the strips 12 are shown disposed within the magazine 22 with the gating rods 20 supporting the strips by their side notches 15. The upper inclined edges provided by these notches 15 cooperate wit-h complementary supporting surfaces of respective ones of the pair of gating rods 26. The pair of gating rods 20 and the eight selector rods 17 are formed of sector-shaped crosssections, as shown, and are suitably mounted (in a manner to be described hereinafter) for rotation about the axes of the sectors within the suspender means 16. In the upper marginal edge of each of the strips there is formed between the tabs 14 a plurality of indentations generally denoted as 141i and exemplified by eight indentations 14it)1-ti7. Each strip such as strip 12a has a unique set of retaining lugs or ears generally denoted as He and exemplified by eight ears Mail-1427, formed integral with the respective tabs 14 and disposed at one or the other (left or right) side of a respective one of the eight indentations 1459-1417 in dependence upon the coded notation described in the above-mentioned Irasclt application. The retaining cars are adapted for cooperation with respective ones of the eight selector rods 17 and in turn the selector rods are adapted to be rotated into and out of engagement with the retainer ears of the strips for selective release of individual ones of the strips as presently will be explained. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the normal altitude or positional relationship of the strips with the respective gating and selector rods is that, when the gating rods 20 are nested within the side notches 15, so as to contact the upper inclined edges of the side notches, a clearance is provided between the inside edges of the retaining ears and the respective selector rods 17. It is evident that with such a structure arrangement, as the selector rods rotate about a horizontal axis from left to right, an impact with the ears 14a is prevented. After the selector rods 17 have been set to select a strip such as strip 12a, the two gating rods 20 are locked outwardly and the selected strip 12a drops as shown in FIG. 6. At the same time all the strips remaining in the magazine are momentarily suspending from the selector rods 17 with at least one of the ears 14e014e7 on each of the strips 12 hearing against a respective selector rod 17. When the gating rods 20 swing inwardly so that the next strip can be selected, the gating rods 20 lift the strips oif the selector rods 17. Since four or more strips can be selected each second, the movement of the gating rods 20 is very rapid, and as shown in FIG. 3, dashpot means 56 (to he described hereinafter), one for each gating rod, are provided to cushion the impact of the gating rods 26 against the upper inclined edges of the notches 15.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the aforesaid solenoid actuator means 18 which operates the gating and selector rods is shown in detail. The manner in which the eight selector rods 17 and two gating rods 20 are actuated are sufficiently similar that description of one will suffice for all. It should be noted in accordance with the present invention that the two gating rods 20 are also provided with the dashpot means 56 so that the impact between the gating rods 20 and the side notches 15 is greatly reduced. As depicted in FIG. 3, the rods are mounted for rotation in the following manner: the right end of the rods, such as rods 17 and 20 shown, are provided with respective trunnions 43 which extend into and are supported in aperture-bearings, such as hearing 44, provided in the right support plate 30 of the suspender means 16. The other or left end of each rod, e.g., rod 20 as shown, is formed as a small pinion gear 46 which is constructed and arranged to be driven by a gear rack 47. The rack 47 is constructed and arranged to be urged in a downwardly direction by a suitably mounted compression spring 48 so that one flat surface on the gating rod is bearing against a suitable stop 50. The compression spring 48 is mounted as indicated, bearing upon or effective against a collar 49 mounted on the gear rack 47. The gear rack 47 is driven in an upwardly direction that is against the action of the compression spring 48, by a solenoid 51 until the other flat surface on the gating rod bears against the stop 50. As indicated in FIG. 4, the two gating solenoids 51, and the other eight solenoids 51a (which are similar to solenoids 51) and gear racks 47 of the solenoid actuator means 18 for alternate rods 17 and 20 may be mounted in inverted relationship to the intervening solenoids and gear racks in the interest of good design.

As mentioned before, the strip 12a in FIG. 5 is selected by first energizing certain ones of the eight solenoids which bear reference numeral 51a in 'FIG. 4 and are coupled to the selector rods 17 to set rods 17 to the position shown in FIG. 5. Then the two gating solenoids 51 (FIG. 4) are energized causing the respective gear racks 47 to move in the direction of arrows 52. These gear racks 47 rotate the respective pinion gears 46 in mesh therewith in the direction of arrows 53, swinging the gating rods 2!) outwardly to a position as shown in FIG. 6. The selected strip 12a drops freely out of the magazine 22, and the strips 12 remaining within the magazine 22 fall slightly and rest on the selector rods 17 as shown in FIG. 6. After a predetermined time which allows the selected strip to clear the gating rods 20, the gating solenoids 51 are de-energized so that another strip may be immediately selected. When solenoids 51 are de-energized the respective springs 48 return the gear racks 47 to their original positions causing the gating rods to move in towards the strips 12 and into the notches 15. Since the steady force exerted by the springs 48 against the collar 49 is relatively large, the racks 47 would rapidly return to their original positions in the absence of any dampening of their motion, and could cause damage to the side notches.

Referring again to FIG. 3, to prevent damage to the side notches of the strips by the gating rods 20 as they move into the notches 15, the aforesaid dashpot means 56 is provided for the two gear racks 47 that are coupled to respective gating rods 20 to dampen the impact of the gating rods when they return to their home position, i.e., with the rods 20 nested in side notches 15. Each means 56 includes a closed ended cylinder 5'7 that has a suitable small orifice 58 vented to the atmosphere, and a piston 59 which slides snugly within the cylinder 57. A connecting rod 61 connects the piston 59 to the stem of a T-bracket 62 having disposed opposite to the stem a protrusion 63 which suitably engages a groove 66 formed in the respective gear rack 47. Opposite ends of the cross arm of the T-bracket 62 are suitably mounted in journal bearings 64 so that Whenever the gear rack 47 moves up and down the T-bracket follows therewith. Since the piston 59 being attached to the T-bracket 62 also moves therewith, the air trapped within the internal portion 65 of the cylinder 57 formed between the piston 59 and closed end of cylinder 57 would be compressed or expanded. Since the orifice 58 is small, the flow of air therethrough is limited whereby whenever the spring 48 causes the piston 59 to move out of the cylinder 57, the pressure of the trapped air g in chamber 65 becomes less than atmospheric. The pressure within chamber 65 decreases in proportion to the displacement of the piston 59 moving out of the cylinder 57 so that the force of the spring 48 is counteracted the most, just as the gating rods 20 contact. the top edges of the side notches -15. Therefore, the gating rods 20 at first move rapidly inwardly, but slow up until they practically stop just before they contact the upper edges of the side notches and the stop 50 (FIG. 3). This allows the gating rods to gently lift the strips off the selector rods 17 and stop smoothly, i.e., without rebound. The system is then ready to select another strip. In a system incorporating the dashpot means 56, the life expectancy of a stack of strips is at least twice that of a system without the use of such means. In addition, the maintenance time of a system incorporating the dashpot means 56 is considerably less than in systems without such means, especially since the use of such dampening means prevents the respective rods from impacting against the stop 50. It should be noted that although the use of dampening means slows up the gating rods before they reach their positions within the side notches 15, the rapidity of selecting strips is not slower than in a system without such means. It happens that in systems which do not employ dampening means the gating rods 20 rebound and chatter when they strike the metallic stop 50. Then, before another strip can be selected, a delay is required to cause this rebound and chatter motion to settle down before another strip can be selected.

From the foregoing explanation of the present invention and the description of a preferred physical embodiment thereof, it is evident that modifications and changes therein will occur to those skilled in the art, and accordingly, the invention is not limited to the specific details of the described exemplary embodiment, but only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a random access storage system, a large plurality of flexible data-storage strips arranged as an assem'bled group, each strip having a plurality of coded notches along a top edge thereof and a suspender notch in each side edge, a first gating rod adjacent to the suspender notches on one side of the assembled strips and a second gating rod adjacent to the suspender notches on the other side of the assembled strips, gating control means for rapidly and automatically rotating said gating members between an engaged position in which they engage their respective suspender notches so as to suspend said strips therefrom with their coded notches upward and aligned and a disengaged position in which they are disengaged from said suspender notches so that said strips are unsupported thereby, and a plurality of selection rods cooperating with the coded notches provided in said strips, means for rotating said selection rods with respect to said coded notches so that when said gating rods are in said disengaged position a strip selected in response to the positioning of said selection rods will be disengaged from said selection rods and fall free of the assembled group while the unselected strips will remain engaged with said selection rods, the location of said selection rods and said coded notches being chosen in conjunction with the location of said gating rods and said suspender notches so that when said gating rods are in said engaged position all of said strips will be lifted out of engagement with said selection rods so as to permit positioning thereof while out of engagement with said strips, said gating control means including means biasing each gating rod towards said disengaged position, electrically actua'ble driving means for periodically driving each gating rod from its disengaged to its engaged position, a cylinder provided for each gating rod, each cylinder being open at one end and closed at the other end except for an orifice accessed to the atmosphere, a piston fitting closely within each cylinder and being slidable therein, and means connecting each piston. to said driving means so as to cause linear movement thereof towards the closed end of its respective cylinder in correspondence with the rotation of its respective gating rod between dis engaged and engaged positions, each piston, cylinder and orifice being constructed and arranged in conjunction with said biasing means and said driving means to provide relatively fast movement of said gating rods prior to engagement with said suspender notches and relatively slow movement of said gating rods after engagement with said suspender notches so as to lift said strips out of engagement with said selection rods without damage to said suspender notches and without rebound while permitting relatively unrestricted rotation of said gating rods back to said disengaged position by said biasing means when the driving force of said driving means is removed.

2. In a random access storage system, a large plu rality of flexible data-storage strips having a plurality of coded notches along a top edge thereof and a suspender notch in each side edge near said top edge, each suspender notch having an approximately sector shape and each coded notch having a generally U shape with a retainer ear strip portion at only one side of the notch, a plurality of substantially similar parallel selection rods of sectorshaped cross-section passing through respective likc-posi tioned coded notches in said strips, electrically actuable means for selectively rotating each selection rod about an axis corresponding to the center of its sector between first and second rotational positions, said axis being located within its respective coded notches, the diameter of the sectors of said selection rods being chosen with respect to said coded notches so that for each coded notch of a strip the respective retainer-ear portion thereof will be retainable by its respective selection rod for one position thereof and free of its respective selection rod for the other position thereof, the locations of the retainer-ear portions of said notches being chosen so that only a single selected one of said strips can be free of said selection rods at any one time, first and second sectorshaped gating rods adjacent respective ones of said suspender notches, and electrically actuable gating control means for rotating said gating rods about the center of their respective sectors between an engaged position in which they engage their respective suspender notches so as to suspend said strips therefrom with their coded notches upward and aligned and a disengaged position in which they are disengaged from said suspender notches so that said strips are unsupported thereby, the location of said gating rods and suspender notches with respect to said coded notches and the diameter of the sectors of said selection rods with respect to the size of said coded notches being chosen so that when said gating rods are in said engaged position all of said strips will be lifted out of engagement with said selection rods so as to permit selective rotation thereof while out of engagement with said strips, said gating control means including means biasing each gating rod towards said disengaged position, electrically actuable driving means for driving each gating rod from its disengaged to its engaged position, said driving means including a pinion gear coupled to each gating rod, a gear rack engaging each pinion gear, and a solenoid driving each gear rack to cause rotation of said pinion gear to in turn cause rotation of the gating rod coupled thereto, a cylinder provided for each gating rod, each cylinder being open at one end and closed at the other except for an orifice which permits restricted air passage therethrough, a piston fitting closely within each cylinder and being slidable therein, means coupling each piston to a respective gear rack to provide linear movement thereof towards the closed end of its respective cylinder in correspondence with the rotation of its respective gating rod, each piston, cylinder and orifice being constructed and arranged in conjunction with said biasing means and the driving force provided by its respective solenoid to provide relatively fast movement of said gating rods prior to engagement with said suspender notches and relatively slow movement of said gating rods after engagement with said suspender notches so as to lift said strips out of engagement with said selection rods without damage to said suspender notches and without rebound while permitting relatively unrestricted rotation of said gating rods from said engaged to said disengaged position 'by said biasing means when the driving force of said solenoids is removed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,217,744 10/1940 Gruenhut l29l6.l 2,602,451 7/1952 Hofgaard l29l6.l 2,940,111 6/1960 Patriquin 188-84 X 3,005,523 10/1961 May 188-95 3,240,210 3/l966 Giambazi 129l6.l

JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner. 

